Underwater
Posted by englishlessons on January 25, 2007
Definition:
The current value is less than the original value
Examples:
That stock is underwater now, so he can’t sell it or he’ll lose lots of money on his original investment.
An underwater option would be worthless if it expired today.
Source:
Using idioms in conversation demonstrates mastery of a foreign language. Idioms in English shows you how to use stress to pronounce an idiom in a sentence like a native speaker.
January 30, 2007 at 1:03 pm
Not sure that I would call this an idiom. It is nothing more than jargon to an economistñ that is, it is specialised vocabulary much like medical terms. I don’t think you can apply this to any situation.
However, being in hot water is a much more useful idiom!
January 30, 2007 at 11:25 pm
I agree that “being in hot water” is an idiom that has been around a long time. However, I hear “underwater” being used a lot in Silicon Valley, California, to talk about stock options and housing. For example, many people find their houses are now worth less than they paid for them a couple of years ago and they use this idiom to talk about housing values. I have had many engineers who speak English as a second language ask me about this term as they hear it being used in conversations at work.